The wildly beautiful community of Xeni Gwet’in can take a visitor’s breath away.
Nurse Katie LaRone remembers the first time she visited. She was with a work colleague travelling to the territory, 200km west of Williams Lake, for the first time.
“I didn’t have enough water, and she’s like, ‘Oh, we’ll grab you some water on the way.’ And then we just filled up our water bottle out of the river, because everything, all the water here, is so pristine and clean. And I was like, ‘Oh wow, this place is pretty special.’”
“Culture and language are really strong here. So a lot of our elders speak primarily Tŝilhqot'in. So I actually have to have a translator whenever I visit with my elders in order to get an accurate assessment, because English is not their first language. Some of them don't speak any English at all, but they might understand some”
Unspoiled beauty
When she arrived in Nemaiah Valley, one of the six communities that form the Tŝilhqot’in Nation located in Traditional Tŝilhqot’in territory, she was even more amazed by the unspoiled beauty.
“Xeni Gwet’in are staunch protectors of their lands,” she says. “And this is really reflected in the pristine beauty of their land. They’re actively and successfully opposing many attempts to log and extract resources from their territories, and one of their biggest achievements was winning title to their land in 2014. So we had the 10-year anniversary of their title win celebration last summer.”
But the community’s isolation does bring challenges, including challenges accessing healthcare.
The buildings housing residents in the community stretch over 30 kilometers, so lots of people have a long way to travel just to get to the local band office and nursing station. When it comes to accessing a higher level of care, that is an even greater challenge. It is a three-hour journey by car to Williams Lake, and weather can sometimes make the trip impossible.
When Katie decided to work in the community in 2023, she knew it was going to be a wonderful, but potentially scary position to be in. That’s because she would be the most senior medical person in the community. Which means that if anything was to happen, the community would turn to her.
One thing that makes the position even more daunting is the types of accidents and emergencies that can happen in the bush. “Xeni Gwet’in are very active people, so they’re on their land regularly fishing and hunting and camping. And they’re also horse people,” says Katie.
The nation is known for their annual week-long wagon ride to the Williams Lake Stampede.
Wild and semi-wild horses roam the mountainsides dotted among the other British Columbia wildlife.
All this activity means that accidents and emergencies are not uncommon.
“We live in a pretty unforgiving environment,” she explains.
In addition to responding to things like broken bones from falls from a horse, Katie is also responsible for everything from child and maternal health, keeping the nursing station stocked, to ensuring that her LPN colleague, and the local first responders, are all trained, safe and comfortable.
There are also language barriers to overcome.
Katie explains: “Culture and language are really strong here. So a lot of our elders speak primarily Tŝilhqot’in. So I actually have to have a translator whenever I visit with my elders in order to get an accurate assessment, because English is not their first language. Some of them don’t speak any English at all, but they might understand some.”
Making her work possible
Katie says her job would not be manageable without Real-Time Virtual Support (RTVS). She regularly calls the Rural Urgent Doctor In-aid (RUDi) Zoom and telephone line for anything that is out of her scope as an RNC (Registered Nurse with Remote Certification).
She also has access to RTVS physician support in Pediatrics (CHARLiE), Critical Care and Internal Medicine (ROCCi) and Maternity/Obstetrics (MaBAL).
“We do get a physician that comes out about one day per month and then the rest of the time I use RTVS for anything that’s outside of my scope of practice as an RNC. I have to consult with a physician, and so RTVS makes my world go round,” she says.
“Honestly, I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t have RTVS. I don’t think I would feel safe. I don’t know how I would do my job at all now.”
“RTVS makes my world go round.”
Busy emergency departments
The reason for her concern is because of how busy emergency departments have become, especially in Williams Lake.
“I started working in remote communities in 2010, and when I started, unless somebody had a family doctor, you could sometimes call them, but generally the only thing you could do was call the emerg (at the nearest hospital). And now our emerges are so busy that, I just don’t think it would work.
Katie estimates that about 95% of the community’s residents are not attached to a family doctor.
“I don’t know how it would function anymore without RTVS because the RTVS doctors are available. And they’re just so caring. And they’re thorough and they create safety, especially for me as an RN,” she says.
Some days are more difficult than others, but Katie feels really good about being a trusted community member and being able to care for people, connect them with virtual physicians, and advocate for more resources for the clinic and the wider community.
She says, before she arrived, people would suffer with conditions that were easily treatable for weeks and months because they didn’t want to go on the three-hour journey to Williams Lake.
Lorna Elkins, health manager in the community, says: “We are so fortunate to have Katie work in our community. The community was without a nurse for a while. Community members needing medical attention would have to travel into Williams Lake to see their family doctors, or, if they didn’t have a family doctor, then they would have to go to Cariboo Memorial Hospital ER.”
Having Katie in the community, supported by RTVS, means that community members have easier access to the care they need.
For more about RTVS, visit rccbc.ca/rtvs/
